The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820
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Go directly to the collection, The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.
The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 documents the travels of the first Europeans to enter the trans-Appalachian west, the maps tracing their explorations, and relations with Native American people. Books and letters in the collection record land acquisitions, agricultural development, navigation, trade, and political affairs in the early Federal period including western conspiracies. The collection of documents draws upon the interconnected holdings of the University of Chicago Library and the Filson Historical Society, named after John Filson who, in 1784, published “The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke,” a promotional tract recognized as the first history of the state. The collection provides a diverse picture of the early exploration and settlement of the trans-Appalachian west.
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The First American West supplements the study of early American history and provides insights into the settlement of the first westward frontier. Documents in the collection explore the numerous hostile encounters between Europeans and Native Americans from the Seven Years’ War through the War of 1812. A number of travel accounts shed light on the economic opportunities in the western Appalachian territory acquired by the Treaty of Paris of 1783, including a two-volume history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The collection also explores the political intrigues spawned in the Ohio Valley during the early Federal Period through personal correspondence, state papers, and court records. The abundant records in the collection further enrich the study of the economic, social, and political values and institutions from the late colonial period through the War of 1812.
The Special Presentation “Encountering the First American West” provides a useful introduction to the collection, organized around five themes: contested lands, peoples and migrations, empires and politics, western life and culture, and constructing a western past. These themes could provide one avenue for exploring the collection in the classroom; the topics in the subheadings below could provide another.
Native Peoples
Several monographs in the collection focus on the indigenous people of North America. A selection from Josiah Priest’s monograph “American Antiquities, and Discoveries in the West” examines an ancient “city” and mounds at the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers in eastern Ohio, the forts of Circleville, and the remains of structures near Chillicothe in central Ohio. Priest extols these “stupendous works” and compares them to Mesopotamian and Indus River civilizations. An earlier ethnological study, “Ancient History, or, Annals of Kentucky,” includes a survey of the ancient monuments of North America.
Many of the works on Native Americans survey the conflicts between settlers and Indians in the frontier. “A Historical Account of the Expedition Against the Ohio Indians, in the Year 1764” explores Henry Bouquet’s service with the British in the Seven Years’ War and includes references to Pontiac’s Rebellion. Selected chapters of “History of the Backwoods, or, The Region of the Ohio,” published in 1843, surveys the early settlement of Kentucky and the conflict with British and Native American forces during the Revolutionary War. Several chapters of “History of the Shawnee Indians, from the Year 1681 to 1854, Inclusive” dealing with Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, and Tippecanoe are also part of the digital collection.
Use the Subject Index to find descriptions of white settlers’ interactions with the Native Americans. Read several documents from different time periods.
- How are Native Americans described in general histories of the Ohio Valley? In documents in the collection, find several phrases that you think typify the European settlers’ attitudes toward the Native Americans.
- Do you note any changes in perceptions of Native Americans over time? If so, describe those changes.
- Compare the descriptions of the Native Americans with whom white settlers interacted with the conclusions drawn about the ancient inhabitants from studies of remains of settlements and artifacts. How are they similar? How are they different? What might account for the differences?
Settlers in the Ohio Valley were in frequent conflict with Native Americans in the region. Because they felt the state of Virginia was not doing enough to protect them from the native people, many settlers in Kentucky began arguing for statehood.